Originally posted by pillbeam The more CDs that Clay sells, the more money Simon makes. Simon probably is trying to extend his 15 minutes of fame by saying controversial stuff about Clay, which I don't think will affect Clay's sales at all.

Apparently, Simon Cowell sold his interests in the recording rights of AI2 winners (don't know about Kelly and Justin). So he has already taken his profit out of the arrangement, a tidy sum he received too, rumored 10 million. Now Simon Fuller, of course, would profit. In any case, we can already see that whatever Simon C. says about Clay prompts more Clay purchases by Clayfanatics.

Well, if Simon's already taken his Clay/Ruben profits and run, he no longer has a vested interest in seeing Ruben do better in the industry. Except, of course, for these reasons:
a. to keep viewer interest in watching, so you can vote for your favorite (on future Idol shows). If people think there's no advantage to winning, they won't be as obsessed with watching and voting.
b. to save face, having said several times that he thought Ruben "should win" or was "more marketable."

But it also means he no longer profits directly from Ruben's success. So from the face-saving standpoint, Simon MIGHT prefer to see them both be semi-flops, with Clay a bigger flop, than to see them both become superstars with Clay being the bigger superstar.

But to whoever said that bad publicity via Simon won't hurt Clay's career, you're probably right. Same thing for whoever said you should expect smut and slams on Howard Stern's show.

Simon is like the kid in fourth grade who teases the other kids...at first you think he is funny then you outgrow him.....
As both Ruben and Clay said in interviews...Most people have a filter when they critisize someone....
Simon does not...
I for one won't be watching season three....and the million dollar man.....lol